Morning News Round-Up -- 6.23.09: "No Bail Out for You!"

And we thought the Swine Flu stories were on hiatus... the County saw its first death from the H1N1 flu. Could renewed Mask Hysteria be far behind?

This quote from Assemblymember Jerry Hill pretty much sums up what happened to the Half Moon Bay Bail Out Bill:

“I will no longer pursue the passage of AB650 this year... Unfortunately, the collective actions of the City Council last week and the recent announcement that the city would not file for bankruptcy, coupled with the $20 billion state budget deficit impacted the willingness of my legislative colleagues to support AB 650.”

Perhaps the Sheriff could be in line for a bail out then. 9 positions are being cut from that County Department...

The Mid-Peninsula Open Space District is actually taking advantage of the down economy by purchasing two prime coastal properties. You may have a new place to hike soon...

Speaking of government agencies with money to spend... Menlo Park has a big reserve fund, compared to other cities. Next year the reserve fund could be $25 million... Perhaps they could send some cash to Half Moon Bay or the Sheriff?

Foster City's Mayor John Kiramis may not finish his term in office... this is big news.

Even though times are tough, it looks like the Belmont Sports Complex might see a Redevelopment Agency-funded revamp.

To nobodies' surprise, the Burlingame Safeway project got "mixed reviews" at the Planning Commission meeting last night. What else would you expect?

The Daily Journal's Michelle Durand gets in on Statue (Testy) Gate up in Sacramento. She's funny.

Over the objections of many, Palo Alto will have a business license tax measure on the ballot in November. The measure is a tax based on employee-count -- the more employees you have, the more you pay. The obvious objection to this measure stems from the first day of Econ 101 -- people, and businesses, respond to incentives. In Palo Alto, the incentive will be to NOT add head count...

There will be a public hearing about Coastside healthcare held by the Sequoia Healthcare District next Monday. This announcement was included in the Coastsider blog, which also had a piece about the (possibly political) motivations of Sequoia Healthcare District's interest in Coastside healthcare...

And two coastside rescue stories...

A 6-year old girl was rescued from the water near Half Moon Bay and flown to the hospital with hypothermia. The boat she was on had capsized.

Finally... yesterday we included a story of a surfer who went missing off Pomponio State Beach and Coast Guards were searching for him. Well, they got him, he's fine. Sometimes the news of the rescue is far less interesting and far less timely than the news of the disappearance...